Jain Global LLC Buys 102,010 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Jain Global LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 349.5% in Q3, buying 102,010 shares to hold 131,201 shares worth about $12.66 million.
• Other large institutional moves include Vanguard, State Street and Invesco boosting positions and Norges Bank initiating a roughly $629 million stake, leaving institutional investors owning about 90.77% of the stock.
• Crown Castle declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 (annual $4.25), implying a 4.9% yield420.79%, which may raise sustainability concerns.

Jain Global LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 349.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 131,201 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 102,010 shares during the quarter. Jain Global LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $12,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 0.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,290,381 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,118,201,000 after acquiring an additional 449,776 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,461,578 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,204,748,000 after purchasing an additional 110,050 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,437,685 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $621,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,291 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,185,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $596,876,000 after purchasing an additional 177,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $629,431,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,800 shares in the company, valued at $507,442. This represents a 34.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total transaction of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. This trade represents a 15.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CCI. Citigroup dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.13.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $87.44 on Monday. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $77.01 and a one year high of $115.76. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $87.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.96.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently 420.79%.

Crown Castle Profile

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company's assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.

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